Erin Natal designed the island on graph paper first. She has a great cartoony style that fits perfectly in a LEGO world. I also recall citing "The Secret of Monkey Island" as tone/design inspiration when giving her the direction on how it should look.

We then used tan plates to flesh out the island's peaks and valleys.

To further accentuate the micro-scale, we built a tiny LEGO boat to put in the background, in addition to mini palms and shrubs.

got to give some credit for having made the video on "how to" beyond .... Gives me a lot of inspiration .... We havent been building for a while.. But everyday goes by , and if not the kids, then i come up with stuff we have to build when we get back down on our knees putting our hands into those lovely boxes filled with these little plastic bricks we all love.
In other words ... This video got me a mile closer to begin building again. :) ..... Thanks a lot !....
Oh.... And you finished videos are cool also.... ;)